Ottawa County lawyer David Kallman says the board wants to fire Hambley because of incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty when she publicly opposed cuts during recent budget discussions during recent budget discussions.
“Miss Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty
by making false claims that encourage that caused confusion, anxiety, fear and panic in the community.”
But Hambley’s attorney Sara Howard says the new conservative majority on the board moved to replace her right after they took office in January. She says they want Hambley out because she supported mask mandates, social distancing and other COVID restrictions.
“Are the charges the real reason for termination or are they a pretext for ousting health officer Hambley? Do we have a sham justification? We believe that we do. “
The board wants to replace Hambley with the safety manager at a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company who supported horse de-wormer as a COVID treatment and opposed pandemic mandates.
“Miss Hambley demonstrated incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty.”
“We believe that all of the evidence will clearly show that a termination of Adeline Hambley as the health officer is unsupported.”
The termination hearing is expected to take two days.
